BERLIN, March 31- The German pilot who crashed a plane in the French Alps last week, killing 150 people, told officials at a Lufthansa training school in 2009 that he had gone through a period of severe depression, the airline said on Tuesday. The statement is potentially damaging for the airline and its CEO Carsten Spohr, who told reporters last week that the carrier...

FAIRBANKS, Alaska— Police in Fairbanks, Alaska, say a 21- year-old man drove a stolen forklift more than 3 miles while intoxicated to retrieve a truck he crashed. Matt Soden says just before 6 a.m. Monday, Aleksandr Glushko of Delta Junction drove off a road in a pickup and crashed into pipe stacked in a company yard. An Alaska Railroad worker spotted the forklift...

BOISE, Idaho— A Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix to Spokane, Washington, was diverted to Idaho after a burning electrical or smoke smell was reported in the passenger cabin. Southwest Airlines spokesman Brad Hawkins says the captain in command of the flight heard reports of an odor and decided to divert the plane so mechanics could make safety checks.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina— Transportation unions brought Argentina to a standstill on Tuesday with a one-day national strike to protest income tax rates and high inflation they say is eroding their earnings. Even drivers with their own cars had a hard time getting into the capital because members of the Socialist Workers party blocked the principal routes...

BRUSSELS, March 31- European, Turkish and Chinese recyclers are set to benefit from strict new EU rules on breaking up old ships, but the practice of dismantling them on beaches in South Asia-- at great human and environmental cost-- will still be hard to stop. Of 1,026 ocean-going ships recycled in 2014, 641 were taken apart on beaches in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan,...

The airline said that as part of its internal research it found emails that Andreas Lubitz sent to the Lufthansa flight school in Bremen when he resumed his training there in 2009 after an interruption of several months. Authorities say the 27- year-old Lubitz, who in the past had been treated for suicidal tendencies, locked his captain out of the cockpit before...

Is oil the sole perpetrator for the slowdown in the shipping industry? Albert Stein, Managing Director of AlixPartners, says oil is a "mixed blessing" for different types of ships, while talking about the industry's outlook.

But 14 states, mainly west of the Mississippi River, now have speed limits of 75, 80, even 85 mph in part of Texas. "It's a recipe for disaster," said James Perham, president of Extreme Transportation Corp., an automobile-hauling company near San Diego that filed a complaint with regulators about Michelin tires after seven blowouts caused an estimated $20,000 to...

SAO PAULO, March 30- Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas SA expects positive operating income in 2015 and an operating margin of between 2 and 5 percent, the company said in a securities filing on Monday. The airline may revise its outlook for the year because of "an adverse macroeconomic scenario," the filing said. Gol also reiterated its expectations for stable...

SANTIAGO, March 30- The Chilean-based LATAM Airlines said on Monday it was canceling a large number of domestic flights in Argentina as well as some international ones into and out of the country due to an upcoming general strike. Banks will also close their doors and port workers in the Rosario grains hub 300 km northwest of Buenos Aires will down tools.

BERLIN, March 30- After an already troubled first year as CEO of Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr must now deal with the aftermath of the Germanwings disaster whilst making the airline group fit to compete for the future. Spohr, a qualified pilot, has been trying to follow the example of rival IAG, the parent company of British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, by cutting staff...

HELSINKI— Swedish ferry operator Stena Line says it has converted one of its ships to enable it to run on methanol, testing the potential of the environmentally friendly fuel for the shipping industry. The company said the Stena Germanica re-entered service on March 26 to operate between Kiel, Germany, and Goteborg, on Sweden's southwestern coast, after a...

LONDON, March 30- China has managed to export a large shipment of crude oil from Yemen over the weekend, ship-tracking data showed on Monday, despite mounting chaos in the country after the launch of Saudi-led air strikes last week. Tanker data listed it as being run by Glasford, the shipping-arm of PetroChina. Trading sources estimate Yemen's oil exports before...

BANGKOK— The head of Thailand's ruling junta may use extraordinary constitutional powers to expedite safety improvements in the aviation sector, which is facing international sanctions, the country's transport minister said Monday. The International Civil Aviation Organization this month designated Thailand's air safety standards as a cause for...

*New railways target Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo. Oil discoveries in Kenya and Uganda and gas finds in Tanzania have turned east Africa into an exploration hotspot for oil firms but transport infrastructure in those countries has suffered from decades of under-investment. Sitta said the railway network would meet the huge demand for the transportation of...